Do Iraqis count?

Thanks to the Pat Tillman charade, we know we can trust our military to deliver the hard, honest facts about deaths in combat. P&J now wish to alert you to a presentation pointing out that while the body count of US troops has climbed above 3200 (never mind those malingering wounded in action, more than 200,000 of our best and bravest), there is a local chance to get a tally on Iraqi casualties. That’s what they get for not inviting America into their country.

East Bay Citizens for Peace is sponsoring a presentation, “War and Health: The Casualty Total in Iraq,” by Dr. Les Roberts, who on Wednesday, April 4, at 7 PM, will present his study on mortality following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This will take place at Salomon Hall, Room 101, on the Main Green at Brown University.

Dr. Roberts and his team evaluated deaths in Iraq before and after the invasion, in a Johns Hopkins study published last October in the Lancet, a peer-reviewed British medical journal.

The US government and media have tried to ignore the resulting estimate of 655,000 Iraqi war deaths. A recent survey of Americans found that they generally believe -- correctly -- that about 3000 US soldiers have died. The survey also found, however, that Americans think a similar number of Iraqis have died. In fact, this study estimates that the real number if probably 200 times higher. Dr. Roberts will explain the study and compare it with other published estimates of Iraqi war deaths.

For more info, contact Joanne DeVoe, of East Bay Citizens for Peace at 401.247.3004, or e-mail: sene@afsc.org.